April 2017

I met the exceptional, creative, and compassionate Ms. Abby Brooke quite a few years ago on Facebook through some other autistic women friends and we immediately formed a friendship. Abby resides in Kenya and has founded an organization to raise much needed autism awareness and acceptance by walking on foot with her camel companions to different communities. In the non-Western world, there is not very much information, let alone much awareness about autism, and Abby hopes to change that in her country and throughout Africa by educating others in a positive and encouraging way. She is also an artist, outdoors […]

When I was asked to write a piece for The Spectrum Women Magazine I was blown away by the invitation. Who me? Little ol’ me? What would I have to offer any other Autistic woman in the world? I know that many Autistic women may feel similar. The world today doesn’t look kindly on us and our eccentricities. We are forced into wearing a “normal” facade that doesn’t fit us. It’s obvious that it doesn’t fit us, and yet we are made to wear it day after day. But what is so bad about being different? I mean really? Autistics […]

There are people in the world who spend their whole life chasing happiness from without. They buy boats, cars, planes, trains, corporations, islands, trying to amass as much stuff as they can to see where the happiness lies. Maybe they have a great time, but if wealth (and fame) were everything, so many rich people wouldn’t be overdosing in hotel rooms across the globe, entering rehab, and/or psychotherapy. Sometimes people spend all their time and money searching and when they don’t find it in material things, they do a 180 and search for a higher power—doing good works, praying, lunching […]

Do I have an Autism Spectrum condition; am I Autistic, or am I a person with Autism? After 26 years on this journey I still don’t know. Do I want to Light it up Blue for autism awareness / acceptance / understanding / action? Or do I want to be Autism Aware every single day? Are we born Autistic or do we “get” Autism from vaccinations, food colourings, gut issues, nut allergies or gene defects? Do I want research to focus on the cause of Autism? Or should I want research to find a cure for Autism? Or do I […]

Do not be afraid of this lullaby Hush hush, none can promise you peace soon No, not even a shoulder when you cry That growing nose won’t teach you how to tune In their own ways, everything is strange I know, I know, they say that you’re different Misunderstood love, please don’t ever change In different ways, we’re all ignorant In your eyes, everything is absurd A saving grace to keep you entertained How star-crossed you are from the herd You’ve got no strings to hold you down, unchained When you wish upon a star to be real Pleasure Island […]

I have been an Autistic self-advocate since 2005. As the years have gone by the circle of people who I know or who know my work as an advocate has been expanding outwards. At the same time, the knowledge and ‘awareness’ of Autism has also been expanding. When I was diagnosed with Asperger syndrome in 1994, people I mentioned the diagnosis to all responded with ‘what’s that”? When my first book, Finding a Different Kind of Normal – Misadventures with Asperger Syndrome, was published in 2006, people would usually respond to my diagnosis with ‘My [insert child of relative / […]

I will never understand the world. I see it through my eyes. I touch it, smell its odours, listen to its macabre everyday symphony of hedonism and war, and taste its words and colours. I filter all the information I perceive, trying to match every single beam of its grey-zone reason-light to one of the pure, polished surfaces of my crystal-clear aspie brain. I try to find some kind of similarity to what I feel inside of my heart, inside my true love. Why am I still rejected by society? Even worse: by my own familly? My husband? Why do […]

Content warning: bullying A distressed young child held down to a chair They say he’s “just being a brat” They clearly don’t care The teen they think is too shy to speak Is aware they are different And may be more powerful than meek The adult struggling to find lasting work Is discriminated against Over their many ‘weird’ quirks We may not always look others in the eye When I see it being forced I grumble and sigh Others laugh when we flinch from noise or touch Not understanding Overstimulation can be too much They say our behaviours are […]

Around this time of year, I usually get asked to speak or write about autism. I’m happy to do my bit. April is Autism Awareness Month and 2nd April is World Autism Awareness Day. It’s a good opportunity to engage with people outside the autism community. We get a bit side-tracked as a community over whether we should be promoting “awareness” or “acceptance”. Or maybe some other word that conveniently starts with an “a”, like “action”. I don’t see these words as mutually exclusive. I appreciate the argument that’s usually put forward by those who are critical of the focus […]

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